The project was to design an algorithm for placement of names on the 9/11 memorial in New York City. In architect Michael Aradâ€˜s vision for the memorial, the names were to be laid according to where people were and who they were with when they died â€“ not alphabetical, nor placed in a grid. Inscribed in bronze parapets, almost three thousand names would stream seamlessly around the memorial pools. Underneath this river of names, though, an arrangement would provide a meaningful framework; one which allows the names of family and friends to exist together.

Victims would be linked through what Arad terms â€˜meaningful adjacenciesâ€™ â€“ connections that would reflect friendships, family bonds, and acts of heroism. through these connections, the memorial becomes a permanent embodiment of not only the many individual victims, but also of the relationships that were part of their lives before those tragic events.